Did this last year, enjoyed
it, so I'm doing it again. Last time it all fit in a Facebook post, albeit a long one, but this time I decided to dwell a little longer on each candidate. Here is a list of MLB players that have announced
retirement and my projection of their HOF chances.
1B Mark Teixeira - 75%
chance
Switch hitting power hitter
who also featured a really nice glove at 1B. Tex had a pretty extended peak,
hit 40 HRs once, 35+ 3 other times and only <13 once in an injury shortened
2013 over his 14 year career. Finished with 409 bombs and 2 short of 1300 RBIs.
He finished 5th in ROY voting for Texas in '03 then got consecutive Silver
Sluggers overlapping consecutive Gold Gloves. Then was the keystone of one of
the worst trades in Major League history when the Braves sent SS Elvis Andrus,
SP Matt Harrison, RPs Neftali Feliz and Beau Jones and C Jarrod Saltalamacchia
to Texas for him. Lasted 108 games between '07 and '08 for Atlanta during the
proud franchises true nadir. He hit .358 for LA after being flipped from
Atlanta in '08 and then got paid. The Yankees gave him an astounding $180
million over 8 years coming out to an AAV of 22.5 million. His 1st 3 seasons in
New York were awesome, including the '09 World Series, followed by 5 injury
plagued and generally disappointing years. His detractors will point his sub
.270 BA, and the glut of amazing talents at his position in the Hall already. I
don't think I'd vote for him, simply because he wasn't the best at his position
throughout his career, evidenced by only garnering 3 All-Star selections. But I
wouldn't complain if he was elected.
1B Prince Fielder - 60%
Son of masher Cecil
Fielder. Prince had a much brighter but shorter shine than Teixeira. His
glorious peak, 2007-09, he mashed 50-34-46 HRs, drove in 119-102-141, was a
All-Star twice, won a Silver Slugger and finished 3rd-20th-4th in MVP voting.
Got MVP votes 2 more times, went to a total of 6 All-Star games in his 12
years, and won 2 more Silver Sluggers. Finished with 319 bombs and an
impressive .283 BA. A neck injury ended his career at age 32, or he may have
reached the 400 and possibly even 500 homer marks. I would vote for him,
because of how dominant he was as both a power hitter and hitting for average.
He also had one of the greatest showings in the Home Run derby I've ever seen.
C AJ Pierzynski - 18%
Anthony John Pierzynski.
You either hated him, or you really hated him. 19 years in the league,
including long stretches with Minnesota and the White Sox. World Series champ
with Chicago, All-Star twice, and got some MVP votes in '06 when they won the
Series. He hit 188 dingers, topping out at 27. Never drove in more that 77
runs, never hit better than .312 with a career .280 BA. But he logged 16,335.1
innings in over 2000 games at Catcher and really was actually a pretty cool
guy. I'm afraid his lack of a peak, and even among catchers his counting stats
don't quite pull him into the elite level. Quite an impressive career though.
C David Ross - 0%
Mythical being or baseball
player? Ross toiled in obscurity until finding an unlikely home as a backup in
Atlanta and developed a bit of a cult fan following. After hitting a playoff
homer one pitch after being granted a very late timeout, the legend of Grandpa
Rossy began to take shape. In 2013 he helped Boston to its 3rd title since the
curse and then joined the Cubs. The rest is history.
C/1B JP Arencibia - 0%
Despite showing some legit
pop (20 dingers twice, 80 over 6 years), JP was a below average Catcher
defensively and finished with a career .212 BA.
DH/1B David Ortiz - 100%
What a career. 20 seasons.
541 homers. 1768 RBIs. 2472 hits. 632(!) doubles. A .552 SLG% which he held
over .600 for 4 years straight at one point. After struggling to get ABs as a
bad 1B in Minnesota he was released. Boston decided to try him at DH. He
proceeded to hit 23 or more HRs for 14 straight seasons including a 54 HR year,
2 more 40+, and 4 more 35+ including HIS LAST THREE. That's right, as 40 year
old man, he crushed 38 bombs, 48 doubles (which led the league and is his
career high) and reached his 3rd highest RBI total 127 (148, 137). Dude was as
close to Ruth as we may ever see again at the plate. He crossed the mythical
1.000 OPS for a season mark 4 times, including HIS LAST YEAR and finished with
a breathtaking .931. 10 All-Star games, 5 Top-5 MVP finishes, with 2 other
years getting votes, and 7 Silver Sluggers. More importantly to Red Sox fans,
he led 3 World Series teams including the Bambino breaking 2004 team, won the
'04 ALCS MVP, '13 WS MVP and, as Yankees fans can attest, seemed to always get
that big hit. If you don't think DHs belong in the Hall, and you just read that
list of accomplishments and haven't changed your mind, trade in your
credentials - you don't get to vote.
RP Randy Choate - 0%
A LOOGY in every sense.
Choate got some big outs for some good teams over his 15 seasons. Managed to
log 7 Saves and finished with a 16-14 record.
RP Javier Lopez - 0%
While Choate was killing
lefties in St Louis and Arizona. Lopez was Bochy's favorite lefty during the
Giants recent dynastic run.
RP Matt Thornton - 0%
Hard throwing righty. Got some chances to establish himself as a closer with mixed but mostly negative results. Had claim to "best setup man" for better part of two seasons at one point.
SP CJ Wilson - 0%
Straight Edge Racer was an
oddball lefty with some strong years pitching for the AL West juggernaut
Rangers of consecutive World Series failures and their rival Angels. Wilson was
wild and ultimately his lack of command ended his effectiveness. I believe he
holds the record for most walks in a playoff game.
SP Josh Johnson - 0%
Johnson is yet another story of
unrealized potential. Nasty sinkerballer with the Marlins, injuries decimated
the latter parts of his career. Part of the massive Marlins-Blue Jays
blockbuster which included Mark Buehrle, Jose Reyes, Emilio Bonifacio, John
Buck, Yunel Escobar, Adeiny Hechavarria, Henderson Alvarez, Justin Nicolino,
Jake Marisnick, Jeff Mathis, and Anthony DeSclafani.
SS/3B Alex Rodriguez - 99%
I put 99% because Barry Freaking
Bonds is not in yet, and A-Rod is the infielder version of Bonds. He is the rare
case of a player that can legitimately lay claim to be the greatest ever. He played 22
years for 3 franchises, Seattle, Texas, and the New York Yankees. He set
records for all 3 that will stand for long periods of time. He’s got more black
ink (league leading stats) than the rest of this list combined (which includes
Ortiz). Led the league in HRs 5x, RBIs 2x, Runs 5x, Hits 1x, 2Bs 1x, BA 1x, SLG
4x, OPS 2x, Total Bases 4x. Went to 14 All-Star games, Won 3 MVP awards, got
votes 11 other times, including 2 runner ups, 10 Silver Sluggers and 2 Gold
Gloves. Won a World Series with the Yankees in 2009, where he absolutely raked
through the first two rounds. His counting stats are just as ridiculous. 3115
hits (20th all time), 5.23 MVP shares (percentage of votes during
career, which is 10th all time), 696 HRs (4th all time),
2,086 RBIs (3rd all time), he’s also 8th in Runs, 6th
in Total Bases, and 6th in XBH. 500+ 2Bs, 300+ SBs, a .930 OPS and 6
staggering seasons over 1.000 OPS. On top of all that, he was a plus defender
at short and until his hip broke down transitioned flawlessly to 3B. Of course,
he’s also tested positive for steroids and admitted to using while in Texas so
there’s that. The Rangers gave him a record 10 yr, $252 million deal. Then he was
traded to New York, received $36 million in deferred money, and signed another
record 10 yr, $275 million deal. According to SI he will have made $317+
million from New York alone, with a mind numbing $448 million over the course
of his career. The discussion is not whether or not ARod is a HOFer, it is
simply whether or not he’s better than Honus Wagner. I think he is, but its
closer than you might think.
OF/1B Nick Swisher - .005%
He’ll probably be in the West Virginia
State High School Association Hall of Fame. Swish sported the well-earned “Most
Punchable Face in the League” nickname due to his unapologetic Bro-ness.
Despite that, I have to say he was a pretty awesome guy and a dang good
ballplayer.
